Eighth Ranked Southern Miss Gears Up for Midweek Bout Against Southeast Louisiana
The eighth ranked Golden Eagles will remain at home to face the Lions after taking a 2-1 series win against Appalachian State.
This will be the second meeting this season and 16th meeting overall between these two programs, Southern Miss dominating the series with a 14-4 record. The Golden Eagles are also riding a four game winning streak against the Lions.
The Golden Eagles are coming off of a series against Appalachian State, taking two of three games from the Mountaineers, improving their conference record to 5-4. The Lions are entering Hattiesburg with a 16-12 overall record and, despite a 5-5 road record, they brought down the last eighth ranked team they went toe to toe with, the Oklahoma Sooners. The Lions beat the Sooners at home by a final score of 5-3.
Taking a look at the previous matchup between these programs, the Golden Eagles won a close one on the road, 3-1. This is the second largest margin of victory in their current four game streak against the Lions, two out of the three prior matchups have been decided by only one run.
The game was scoreless up until the seventh inning, Southern Miss drew first blood via a homer by redshirt junior Davis Gillespie breaking the 0-0 tie. This was the only run scored through seven innings.
Southeast Louisiana did respond with a sacrifice fly by sophomore Brooks Wright. This following a triple by graduate student Justin Williams to start the inning and an infield single by senior Mo Little. The Lions tied the game up at 1-1 after eight.
The Golden Eagles would salt the game away in their half of the ninth. After a single by junior Seth Smith and a walk by senior Kyle Morrison, senior Joey Urban would poke a single through the left of the infield to score Smith. Following the Urban single, senior Matthew Russo would knock a single of his own into right center to score Morrison.
The top of the ninth inning would end with Southern Miss leading 3-1. The Lions would go down in order in their half of the ninth, ending the game by a final score of 3-1.
There hasn’t been a hotter bat for the Golden Eagles than Kyle Morrison. The senior is slashing .347/.472/.745, which leads the team in each category. Additionally, Morrison also leads the Golden Eagles in homers (10) and is tied for team lead in RBI with 28.
For Southeastern Louisiana, junior Peyton Woods and senior Ben Robichaux have been spearheading the Lions. Woods slashing .344/.443/.500 while Robichaux is sits at .324/.427/.539 and leads the Lions in hits (33), walks (16), and homers (6).
The Golden Eagles have the advantage on paper, bolstering a stronger roster compounded with their historic dominance over the Lions. However, Southeast Louisiana has been in this situation already this season and could be primed for another major upset in NCAA D1 baseball.
Southeast Louisiana at Southern Mississippi:
TV: ESPN+
Radio: WXHB-FM 96.5 (Hattiesburg) and KSLU 90.9 The Lion
Click here for information on tickets for this and future contests. Golden Eagles fans can also contact the ticket office via phone at (800) 844-8425 or via email at ticket.office@usm.edu
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